Inmate just wants to tie the knot, sues prison over inability to do so

Joe MandakOf The Associated Press

'We've all made mistakes in life,' says prospective bride of prospective groom

PITTSBURGH (AP) — An inmate serving a life sentence at a western Pennsylvania correctional facility and his fiancée are suing the prison superintendent and a county official, saying procedural issues are illegally keeping them from getting married.

Kevin Davis, 57, is housed at the State Correctional Institution at Fayette for a murder he committed in Philadelphia in the 1970s. He got engaged to Norma Scott in 2013. They've known each other for 40 years.

Davis is suing the prison's superintendent and Scott is suing the Fayette County register of wills in companion lawsuits filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, the American Civil Liberties Union said.

The couple's issue is that Pennsylvania law requires both parties to appear in person to apply for a marriage license.

According to Davis' lawsuit, other state prisons accommodate inmates who want to get married by either allowing a county employee to meet with the inmate in person or by allowing inmates to appear by video conferencing to apply for the license.

But SCI-Fayette administrators have told Davis that inmates can't get married at the prison, which is about 35 miles south of Pittsburgh, and that he'd have to transfer to another prison that does allow inmate marriage, a process that could take years, according to his lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Scott, of Philadelphia, contends that Register of Wills Donald Redman has refused to either travel to the prison or allow Davis to apply for the license through video conferencing.

"We've all made mistakes in life," Scott said in a statement . "But Kevin and others like him still have rights. He still has the right to be loved. His conviction cost him his freedom, but he still has the right to a family. I'm his partner."